Nintendo is looking to integrate near-field communications (NFC) technology into figurines that work in tandem with specially designed Wii U games, the company announced at the E3 games conference today.

The company said that the figurines can interact with in-game content, allowing you to develop and improve your individual character.

The first game to support it will be Super Smash Bros for Wii U, but it will also be supported on more games in the future, including Mario Kart 8, Nintendo confirmed.

Data is exchanged between the device and figurine when it’s placed on a Wii U game pad. There’s a two-way data exchange, which means that not only does your individual character appear in games, but in some instances also become a playable character and earns new skills, as will be the case with Super Smash Bros.

While only announced today, if this sort of thing excites you, there’s not too long to wait until the figurines are available – Nintendo said they’ll be arriving “this holiday season”.

The company also confirmed that the Amiibo characters will also be compatible with some 3DS games by using a special piece of hardware in conjunction with the handheld.